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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29933379">One last spiteful kiss goodbye, shattering what delusions he had left of you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matcha_Monster/pseuds/Matcha_Monster'>Matcha_Monster</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SK8 the Infinity (Anime)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adam is a Bastard, Angst with a Happy Ending, Homerun on Cherry's face, JOE just wants Cherry to be happy, Jerry - Freeform, M/M, MatchaBlossom, Mentions of past Adam and Cherry, Pining, angst but it ends up nice, definetly some pining, mentions of ex lovers, sk8 the inifinity episode 9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:35:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,271</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29933379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matcha_Monster/pseuds/Matcha_Monster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kojiro wished he had been surprised, but then, this is why he had wanted it to be him. Adam might have been satisfied with just beating him. But Kaoru? No, just winning wasn’t ever going to be enough. </p><p>But just like before he hadn't been able to stop Adam, and now all he could do was watch it all unfold.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kikuchi Tadashi/Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom/Shindo Ainosuke | Adam, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom &amp; Shindo Ainosuke | Adam</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>159</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>One last spiteful kiss goodbye, shattering what delusions he had left of you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One last spiteful kiss goodbye, shattering what delusions he had left of you.</p><p>Back then, he was happy for him, but, there's something about watching from the outside as your soulmate falls in love that's exhilarating and heartbreaking all at once. Each day had passed by in those times when they were happy, learning new tricks, feeling the adrenaline of outrunning the police, times when Kaorus eyes lit up, times when Kaoru laughed, Times when he and Adam traded gazes, looking all too long for something in the other's eyes. </p><p>The way that Kaoru had looked at him that day under the bridge was what finally sold it. Kojiro had been fucked from the start, he had never stood a chance against Ainosuke. He didn’t resent him for that, not in any way he’d admit out loud. Kaoru was happy, and that was enough for him</p><p>That had to be enough for him.  </p><p>In the end, Ainosuke had left them both in the dust. It was a cruel and messy goodbye, done in a fashion that left scars both physical and mental, but it never hit Kojiro quite the same as it hit Kaoru. </p><p>Kojiro missed him for a bit when he had gone of course. Kaoru though, he had mourned the disappearance of Ainosuke Shindo. He seemed to wallow in the weight of that disappearance for ages, leaving the green haired man to watch as the one he had held most dear yearned for someone long gone. Leaving him with nothing to do but watch as heartbreak ran its course. He knew Kaoru struggled to let go the image of Ainosuke he had in his head, the picture of the man he had fallen in love with still came to his mind when he saw Adam. No matter what he seemed to show them clearly about himself, Kaoru never saw it in full, like fog on the lenses of his glasses, the clear picture Adam painted of himself for them distorted reality in Kaoru’s mind, obscured by images of the past.</p><p> When he had become something neither of them could recognize anymore, the green haired man had been the one to suggest separation for good. Kaoru, begrudging, had followed, but the fog hadn’t ever really left, not completely. Kojiro couldn’t help but wonder if this man he held most dear to him, somewhere deep down hated him for pulling them apart. </p><p>When Ainosuke, now fully Adam had come back, he hadn’t ever stopped Kaoru from challenging him, no matter how much he wanted too, he couldn’t. The two of them knew each other far too well for that, to think that he had any chance of beating out his stubborn streak, Kojiro would have had to ignore everything he loved so much about Kaoru entirely. As much as he hated it, the only one who could wipe the fog off Four Eyes glasses about Ainosuke was Adam himself. </p><p>The sense of overwhelming dread never really left him when he saw Kaoru drifting closer to that place again. The S track was anything goes, as founding members, they both knew that. Kaoru knew the track like the back of his hand, he’d played a large part in scoping out the best place for S to be held. He knew its curves and angles with or without Carla's help, he knew how dangerous it was. That made his stunt during the tournament all the more reckless. Kojiro had watched him calculate the speed and distance with his own eyes, he’d heard Carla rattle off statistics about risk factor and maximum safe speed. 4 minutes, on a 5 mile track, at almost 75 miles per hour Kaoru was speeding towards an outcome Kojiro knew wouldn’t come. Ainosuke wasn’t coming back. He'd already seen him hurt once, and he wasn’t sure he could bear to see it a second time. Kaoru was holding on to that same picture of an ex lover in his head. It was fogging up his vision, he was going to get hurt. So he would race Adam. He would beat him and put him in his place, the bastard got his ego shut down, and Kaoru didn’t get hurt, simple plan. So he’d thought.</p><p>He hadn’t been counting on Langa.</p><p> He should have been counting on Langa. </p><p>Kaoru was going to get hurt. </p><p>Adam pulled a name from the box. He had looked bored when he pulled JOE, but when he pulled “Cherry”... Disgust. Disdain, once again Adam painted the picture before them of the careless monster he’d become. They both saw it, Kojiro had hope for a moment, thinking KAoru saw it too. Kaoru could win, he was a great skater, despite all their arguing, they had full faith in each other. Kojiro had skated with and against Kaoru a million times, he could do it. He was going to do it, Kaoru was ready, maybe he was seeing clearly, finally. </p><p>They said their petty words of good luck at the start line, going back and forth, Four Eyes to Muscle Brained Gorilla.</p><p>“How long does the skit go on?” Adams' retort slipped from his lips, like a poison, full of malice. all at once, it came back to them, the image of what he used to be, and Kaoru was once again lost in it. </p><p>Adam wasn’t toying with him, not taking the same, cavalier, jovially long ritual to starting the race he normally did. Despite the mask on his eyes, the narrow boredom in the man's blank, vile gaze was apparent. The sense of dread in Kojiro's stomach grew. There was no backing out of this now. Like he had said, Kaoru's stubborn streak was unmatched. Kaoru took his board in hand, he was taking this seriously too, he always did. </p><p>He gets reckless when it comes to Adam. Kaoru is going to get hurt.</p><p>The race itself should have been entertaining to watch. The guts that went into Cherry’s dodge of love hug, the precision of his turns, the adjustment of his board for the most speed, all of these were a fantastic display of skill. It was a long awaited spectacle With dread growing in his stomach, Kojiro found his eyes glued to Adam, who lied in waiting, bored and uncaring. HIma nd Kaoru had seen him toy with others before, but this was different, there was no joy to be found in Adams tricks, no taunting or dancing. It was like waiting on a snake he couldn’t see. He knew it was going to strike, but how, or when, that was the mystery</p><p> Even when it seemed like Kaoru might win, the dread only grew, Adam wasn’t going to let that happen. Much like Kaoru, Adam had a fixation, an obsession with the perception he had of someone else, and he wouldn’t let that go so easily. He had no time to worry about what would happen with Langa now, Kaoru’s sakura pink hair whipped behind him, caught up in the speed and the heat of the race, his eyes burned, not with flickering starlight but with burning determination, victory was in sight.</p><p>And then it wasn’t. Adam pulled ahead, around a corner, he leapt off the board with ease. Cherry moved into a crouch, leaning with his momentum. 11 degrees for the turn, Carla counted off angles and times with precision, his gaze locked on the victory that was mere seconds away, he saw everything, every obstacle. Except the one threat that was seen all too late.</p><p>Racing around a corner at reckless speed, golden eyes fixed hawklike on victory, Kaoru Rode Face first into his own destruction. The board hit his jaw with a sickening crack, his mask ripping as Carla flew out from underneath him. The crowd was so silent, you could almost hear the glass on the framed picture of his loved one in Kaoru's mind shatter to pieces. Kojiro was left speechless, his stomach dropped. It was so much worse than he had ever expected</p><p>To Adam, violence and pain were just means of showing affection. Something like this? That was simply a kiss. But there was no love in it. It was the kiss of a love that died long ago, one last hateful goodbye given out of obligation to a dead love that grew malice and contempt. </p><p>“You were just, boring.” Adam said, barely even caring enough to sigh. The words bounced around in Kojiro's brain as he drove at breakneck speed down the trackside road in the car he borrowed from Shadow. Nevermind Adams prattling on About Langa, Nevermind Kaoru’s fanclub, Never mind Langas frantic searching for Reki. Never mind Adam carelessly wiping a bit of blood from his board, sauntering off with the broken pieces of Kaorus perception just like he had before.</p><p> He would get him back for that later. For all of it.  All that mattered now was Kaoru. </p><p> The crowd was thick around him, people staring down at the man on the track beneath them. Fangirls fauned, opponents gawked, all in horrified awe of the fallen hero before their eyes.</p><p>“He could have killed him” Someone in the crowd said, tone hushed. He didn’t care.</p><p>“Why the face?” another asked, Kaoru cares alot about his appearance. Ainosuke knew that.</p><p>“Kao- Cherry!” Kojiro pushed through the crowd, his friend lay on the ground, half limp, his spread out around him. Blood ran from scrapes on his cheek, it pooled under a wound on his head, staining his pale hair. His arm was at an odd angle, his gaze looked blank. Shit, he thought, he had suspected Adam might hurt him, but not like this. Dull and lacking the luster that usually made his yellow eyes appear golden, Kaoru's eyes met Kojiros. Kojiro gave a brief sigh of relief, he was semi conscious, that was good at least. Picking him up wasn’t even a decision he needed to make, he lifted him with ease and care. He was just as light as he remembered him being, lifting him gently into his arms in one move, then placing him gently into a vehicle with another was familiar too. Picking up the pieces of Kaoru was a task he would never shy from, not back then, and not tonight. In silence, the two did what they always did, going off together to repair what they could, and put the night behind them.</p><p>----------<br/>
He already had a chair pulled out of the way for Kaoru. The chair Kaoru preferred, in fact. When he did finally show up, he’d want his usual spot at the bar. Kojiro tried to keep it clear for him whenever he could, and Kaoru made it easy, anytime he wasn’t working, he was there. </p><p>When the hospital had called to let him know Kaoru had snuck out, it had made him smile a little. No matter what Ainosuke did, who he was now, him and Kaoru hadn’t changed, they still had each other through thick and thin, and the end of the day, or, in this case, the dark of the night. He had turned the lights on, and begun looking for random things to clean while he waited, better not to make Kaoru think he was intruding, he’d had a bad enough few days as is. Pretending to still be working was an easy enough task, and that way he could keep an eye on the unlocked door.</p><p>He smiled when Kaoru rolled in, all bandaged up in his wheelchair, acting unphased by the horrible state of himself as he made himself at home at the bar.</p><p>“It was reckless sneaking out of the hospital you know” it was all reckless, all of it. But, I'm glad you’re here.</p><p>“It's barely a scratch” Kaoru huffed, haughty,reaching across the bar to grab a wine glass and huffing as the bottle he attempted to pour ended up being empty. He looked up, annoyed, and the two of them locked eyes, the brown eyed man couldn’t help but smile as he took in the faint, beautiful golden glow that filled his beloved's eyes once more. “You lifted me like it was nothing, i guess all that working out isn’t a waste after all you gorilla.”</p><p>Kojiro laughed a bit, covering the space to the wine rack in just a few steps. He reached up to grab another bottle of the white wine he kept in stock just for Kaoru. “I could do it again, four eyes, just say the word.” He laughed a bit, there was no response, only soft snoring. He turned, gaze softening as it fell on Kaoru, already asleep at the bar of his long empty restaurant. He took two glasses, pouring a bit for them, both and setting them down gently so as not to wake the other.</p><p> Kojiro brushed a lock of soft pink hair from the other cheek, the adoration made his touch soft. He couldn’t help but look, gazing down at the bandage affixed carefully above the hateful mark on his pale face, letting himself take it in. it was the work of someone they didn’t know anymore, a farewell to memories of the past, meant to be a painful reminder of things not to be. Kojiro sighed softly, leaning down to place a soft kiss on Kaoru's cool skin, leaving his affection above the bandage where it belonged. He let it linger a moment before sitting up, slowly, and picking up his glass, the gentle clink of there drinks a mere background noise to the intention behind it. </p><p>“At least we’re not alone right, Kaoru?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please don't come for me about the speed and distance of S i am an artist not a mathematician. I might rewrite this later but theres something bittersweet about loving someone so much you don't care if they love you back as long as they're happy.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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